


That's the New King?! (I don't want to be fucking king!)

by EstaJay



Series: Royal Links AU [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Royal Links AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23092450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstaJay/pseuds/EstaJay
Summary: In the wake of the death of Hyrule's Queen and Heir Apparent, an unlikely candidate is forced to take the throne. However, the residents of the Castle fail to recognise their new monarch.OrHow the five Links of Hyrule Castle met their new King and how Link met his namesake.
Series: Royal Links AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1660654
Comments: 4
Kudos: 117





	That's the New King?! (I don't want to be fucking king!)

**Author's Note:**

> So here's a little something that was live-written in August last year that I completely forgot about (thank Anna for reminding me it existed!)  
> I remember having different plans for this back then but those plans are irrelevant now - let's see if I can actually stick to a 5+1 format!  
> As for Hyrule and Wild - I direct you to Anna's The Role of a Knightfor the latter and you'll just have to wait for the former.

Link held his head high as he marched through the castle. A black cloak of mourning covered the blues and reds of his royal guard uniform and completely concealed the sword at his hip. 

Some of the loitering nobles looked to intercept him, to engage in vapid small talk in order to endear the Commander to their side, but a simple glare was enough to ward them all away. He was in no mood to entertain fools looking to grab power amid this political turmoil.

Link arrived at a large wooden door. It was far from the most ornate one on the castle with the only decorative feature being the royal crest carved above it, but its sheer size and steel brackets served to intimidate rather than impress. 

Before Link could knock, a voice called from inside, "Come in."

Honestly Link wasn't surprised, the old man always knew when he was coming - but this wasn't the time for light-hearted jokes and familiarity.

He opened the door to the head advisor's office and closed it behind him. Coloured light filtered in from the mosaic window of the golden goddesses, casting a lake of colours between the Commander and the advisor. 

Advisor Link was rigid behind his desk, back straight in perfect posture with his hands clasp in front of him. A black cloak was hung over his chair, revealing the advisor's full finery underneath - especially the golden chain around his neck that signified his position. 

The advisor had a carefully composed neutral expression, one that betrayed absolutely no emotion despite current events. Of course, he was likely desensitized to it all by now - this was the ninth royal funeral during his tenure after all.

"The queen is dead as is her sister the princess." Link said bluntly, there was no need for beating around the bush. 

"Yes, I am well aware of these unfortunate circumstances." The advisor brought his hands up and rested his chin on them. Was that slyness, cockiness? Even after all these years, Link still couldn't tell. 

He felt his hand instinctively twitch towards his sword. "What do you plan to do now, Head Advisor?"

Link has known the advisor for years, he served as the man’s squire for goddesses’ sake. Without him, it was wouldn't be half the man he was today let alone be the Commander of the Royal Guard and military. This man was his mentor, his namesake, the only person he could truly trust in this viper's nest of a court. 

But he couldn't help but be suspicious. There had been one common factor between all the dead monarchs and that was Link of Lon Lon Ranch served as their head advisor. 

Link wanted to give the advisor the benefit of the doubt, but this was too much to be a coincidence. In the past eighteen years, the kingdom had lost seven queens, a king and three princesses. 

(Artemis was too smart, too strong, to have died to something as foolish as a 'hunting accident'.)

The Commander was far from the superstitious sort but the whispers of Kokiri misfortune and a curse on the court were hard to ignore. 

The advisor didn't respond immediately, instead burying his chin further into his hands. His furrowed brow was the only thing that betrayed any emotion.

"The same as always: find someone to take the throne." The advisor said finally. " Until then, I will act as regent."

"Why don't you take the throne yourself?" 

The advisor's head snapped up and his eyes widened. It was a show of emotion, yes, but still ambiguous as to what. He quickly composed himself, facing Link with what he had dubbed 'the neutral face of disappointment' during his squire days. 

"I could ask the same of you, Lord Commander. You have as much power to seize control as I do."

The queen was dead. There was no heir apparent. The two most powerful men in the kingdom stood opposite each other.

Link locked eyes with the advisor. He trusted this man, he well as truly did but -

"I live only to serve the kingdom, not to rule it."

Then the advisor closed his eyes. "You are dismissed, Commander."

Link wanted to protest. He and the advisor were equals. He wasn't some new recruit that could be ordered around. But he knew that the advisor wasn't going to respond anymore. 

Link left the advisor alone in his office, pettily slamming the door in his wake.

* * *

It was nearly a year since the tragic deaths of Queen Zelda Sun and her sister Princess Zelda Flora. Advisor Link still acted as regent. No heir could be found. The succession crisis had thoroughly exhausted all branches of the Royal family tree. 

The kingdom wasn't prospering but it was functioning, the advisor knew how to keep the daily affairs on course. 

The Commander ensured that there were no uprisings among the nobles. After all, the man who commanded the most skilled swords in the land was not someone to have as an enemy.

But Link was getting restless. 

A regent was better than a coup, but things couldn't continue as they have been. It was only a matter of time before something cracked whether it be from internal or external forces. 

Link carefully resealed the letter he just read and placed it in the pile with all the other questionable correspondence he had intercepted between the nobility. Everyone was plotting - from House Gamalon of Lanayru (which was a political mess in and of itself) to House Bospheramous of the Ridgelands (which as he had disturbingly discovered had close ties with House Koola-Loompah). If the advisor didn't find an heir soon then the nobility would take things into their own hands - and tear the kingdom apart in the ensuing game for the throne.

Link buried his hands in his hair and wanted to scream in frustration but was stopped by a knock at his office door. 

He hastily neatened his appearance and called for them to come in. 

One of the Royal Guards entered and saluted. "Sir. The Advisor Regent has been spotted entering the royal archives."

The archives? 

"Would you like someone to observe?"

"No." Warriors said. "I'll do it myself."

Trust could only go so far and there was no way he could let his suspicions lie.

* * *

What started as a simple basement to store royal documents had evolved into a labyrinth that descended several layers below the Castle. Every single piece of paperwork, from legislation to treaties to births to deaths to marriages, was stored in the archives. It was the driest collection of texts ever conceived and Link pitied the poor sod charged with organising the place, but it held invaluable information. 

Link descended deeper into the archives, making note of any significant landmarks as he passed. He had heard enough tales about unfortunate scribes who got lost in the archives never to be seen again. 

Several hours in and there was no sign of the advisor. Link couldn't help his growing suspicions. There were other less expansive yet better organized archives for research that weren’t several metres below the ground, especially for the more recent documents. It was either the advisor was trying to uncover something...or had something to hide.

Soon, Link heard a voice muttering in the distance. It was young, too young to be the advisor's, but who else could it be? The only other option was his thief of a little brother, but he was more interested in raiding the treasury than the archives. Besides, the boy was at Granny's, away from all the mess of court.

He spied the light of another lantern ahead and ducked behind the bookshelf just before it. 

Peeking between the tomes, Link found the advisor sitting on the floor surrounded by books. It was hard to make out his appearance in the dim light but Link could see the frantic tiredness in his eyes reflecting in the lantern light.

"There has to be someone, anyone!" The advisor's voice fluctuated between his standard baritone and a young child's squeaks, but his panic was obvious. "There has to be...there has to be..."

It could have been a trick of the light, but Link swore he saw the advisor's odd facial markings swirl and dance around his face in time with his short breaths.

"No not now!" The advisor's voice was boyish and full of fear. "Not now! I can't change, I broke the Rule, I can't change! I can't let Zelly's kingdom fall...but I promised...I promised her..."

Link remembered the whispers around the advisor.  _ Advisor Link is a Kokiri, he will bring nothing but misfortune to the kingdom. His kind is nothing but trouble.  _ But weren't Kokiri immortal children? Didn't they become Koroks which were universally seen as a symbol of good luck?

Link turned to the advisor again with new eyes. For so long he had seen him as his mentor, someone that he wanted to match in renown. This was the Link that rescued the princess from the clutches of the Gerudo king - the sole person preventing the kingdom from unravelling at the seams both then and now. 

But all he could see now was a child (a centuries old immortal child but a child nonetheless) forced into a man's body and to take responsibilities he wouldn't wish on his most despised enemy.

The advisor sniffled and rubbed his sleeve over his running nose, covering intricate silk in tears and snot. "Sheik took the Sheikah vows so he can't rule..." His voice was steadily returning to the deep tone that Link was familiar with but there was still a slight sob hidden in there. "Lady Zelda Dusk of House Mayscore married into the Twili royal family, to coronate her would mean a union with the Twilight Realm...but with the noble prejudices, we might as we make Ganondorf king...so that leaves...no. I promised Zelly. There has to be someone else..."

A piece of paper fluttered out of one of the books near Link. He carefully and quickly grabbed it before it could alert the advisor. 

He was about to tuck the offending piece of paper away but then he noticed something. It was a birth certificate, recording the birth of Zelda Tetra of House Nohansen, daughter of Lord Daphnes Nohansen...and Zelda Lysa Hyrule IV, the queen who abdicated before the succession crisis started. 

Link's eyes widened and he tried not to create too much noise in his excitement. They had an heir! Holding the paper to the lantern light, the dates revealed that Lady Tetra was only a couple years older than his brother...but a child queen was better than no queen at all. 

Link barely contained his glee as he slunk out of the archives. He would leave the birth certificate on the advisor's desk - he needed to depart as soon as possible to retrieve their new monarch.

* * *

Link rode back to the Castle with a scowl on his face, a black eye and a thoroughly bruised ego. Here he was, the Lord Commander and the most skilled fighter in service to the Crown - beaten by a tiny girl barely older than his brother...though if he had expected Lady Tetra to be anything like that brat, he might have been prepared for that flying kick and filthy mouth. What was it with kids these days wanting to run off and become pirates?!

His quest was a failure.

There was always the option of tracking Lady Tetra down but that would require access to a fleet which meant negotiations with either Lord Gamalon or his father - and there was no lesser evil between those two. Chasing after her would also further drag Hyrule's reputation through the mud, especially if she couldn't be captured immediately. The kingdom was already a laughing stock as it was but that would sink them to an even lower level. 

Their options were ridiculously limited. Crowning Sheik would spit in the face of centuries of Sheikah tradition and pissing off a clan of assassins was a quick way to an early grave. Crowning Lady Zelda Dusk Mayscore, the Twili consort, would flip the table on all international and internal relations. So that left the advisor...or himself, if he decided to declare a military take over - but neither of them wanted to rule. 

So who would rule now?

Link entered the stables and his horse was taken by a young stable hand with a slight stubble and a odd diamond tattoo on his forehead. Though there were many people employed at the palace stables, it was consistently this same young man who came to meet him. 

"How was your trip to the ocean, Lord Commander?" The stable hand asked. Link never learned his name and right now would be an awkward time to ask.

Link's eyes narrowed. "How did you know?"

"There's sand in your steed's mane and you smell of salt...sir."

A very observant stable hand...and possibly more than that.

"The Head Advisor wanted to speak to you immediately upon your return - he said it was a matter of great urgency."

Link was far from any shape to appear before anyone - he was exhausted and dishevelled from his journey and looked more like a greenhorn recruit that lost a bar fight rather than the Lord Commander. But if it was of great urgency...

Link started towards the advisor's office but then he heard the sadly familiar sound of Guards scrambling, yelling and falling over each other. Farore's passing wind, his brother should still be at Granny's not back causing mayhem in the Castle!

Link turned towards the sound of the chaos, the royal wing and the treasury of course, and as expected felt a smaller body bump into him as he turned the corner - but the boy on the floor wasn't his brother. 

The boy, young man really, was dressed in a worn green tunic with a knitted green cap on his head - he also wasn't wearing any pants. 

Other than the lack of breaches, something else caught Link's eye. He grabbed the boy by one hand and easily dangled him from his grip with how short and light he was. On the boy's finger was the royal signet ring. 

"It seems like I found a little rat in the castle."

The boy struggled and twisted in his grip to no avail. "If you want the ring, you can take it! I don't fucking want it!"

"Really? Or is it because you got caught stealing it? The penalty for stealing from the royal family would be your hand...or your life." 

Link wouldn’t actually cut off the boy's hand or hang him, if anything his own brother was more deserving of that punishment, but he needed to instil some fear into this little street rat before he gets caught by someone who actually would follow through with those threats.

"Ah Lord Commander, it seems you have met our new king."

Link swiftly turned around to see the head advisor standing behind him. He blanched and dropped the boy - the king apparently. 

"We are not so desperate to be grabbing random kids off the street, old man!" Fuck decorum, the advisor was clearly out of his mind if this kid was their new monarch. 

The boy nodded frantically in agreement. "Ser Bleached Hair is right, asshole! I'm a blacksmith’s apprentice, not a fucking king!"

"Your pedigree begs to differ." The advisor said, grabbing the boy by the ear and dragging him along like a petulant child. "You have lessons in statecraft now, your highness. You'll have more time to acquaint yourself with the Lord Commander in the future."

As the advisor dragged the kicking and swearing 'king' away, Link couldn't help but feel his hairs grow grey. What has the royal court come to?


End file.
